Surprise in fatal shooting trial Judge discontinues proceedings - Baldwin cries on camera in courtroom

After the fatal shooting on a film set, the case against Alec Baldwin has been dropped. After the announcement, he cried in the courtroom.

The ongoing trial against Alec Baldwin for the involuntary manslaughter of a camerawoman has been surprisingly dropped. Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer complied with the request of the Hollywood star's lawyers on Friday (local time). The defense attorneys had accused the public prosecutor's office in Santa Fe (New Mexico) of misconduct.

Baldwin burst into tears in court. There were emotional scenes. The actor hugged his lawyers and his wife, Hilaria Baldwin, who was also sitting in the courtroom. A short time later, he left the building a free man.

The trial, which has been ongoing since Tuesday, is about the question of whether the 66-year-old actor was negligent in the fatal shooting of a camerawoman on the film set of the 2021 western "Rust" and must therefore go to prison. Lead actor Baldwin had drawn a revolver during rehearsals, as requested by the director.

But instead of harmless blanks, live ammunition went off. A bullet hit camerawoman Halyna Hutchins (42) and fatally injured her. If found guilty, Baldwin faced up to 18 months in prison.

Significant errors in the proceedings?

Baldwin's defense lawyers are now claiming that the prosecution withheld important evidence from them. The case concerns a series of cartridges that appeared a few months ago and were presented to the court in an envelope by the judge on Friday.

In the view of the defense attorneys, the cartridges should have been part of the ballistics investigation earlier in the proceedings - but the prosecution had withheld them, the "New York Times" explained the argumentation of Baldwin's attorneys. It was a significant procedural error on the part of the state not to make possible new evidence available to the defense.

SDA